


Heroes

by Slothquisitor



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 13:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5542031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slothquisitor/pseuds/Slothquisitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mara meets Hawke and he gives her some advice about Cullen. Lots of brooding and some angst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heroes

Mara followed Varric out onto the battlements. The wind played through her hair, dancing through the tendrils. It had grown long in the last few months, skirting her shoulders and blowing into her face. Each time she pulled it away, the wind blew it right back. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and threatened to cut it all off the second she returned to her quarters.  
She had a pretty good guess which friend of his she would be meeting. So she wasn’t surprised to see the Champion of Kirkwall awaiting them.  
“Inquisitor, meet Hawke, The Champion of Kirkwall,” Varric introduced her. She gave him a knowing look.  
“Cassandra is going to kill you.”  
Varric laughed, “You let me worry about the Seeker.” He face was gleeful as he looked between both Hawke and Mara. No doubt taking mental notes, The Herald of Andraste meets The Champion of Kirkwall. Too bad she wasn’t a man, otherwise there would probably be pushing out of chests and comparing scars. Varric would love that. Instead, Mara stood in awe, trying to remember proper manners. She could almost hear Josie tsking at the pause.  
Mara stuck out her hand, the typical shem gesture of greeting, he took it, “Though I don’t really use my title much anymore, it’s just Hawke.It’s nice to meet you Inquisitor.”  
Mara smiled, understanding the reluctance to use titles, “And I’m just Mara.”  
Varric interjected, “Hawke, I thought you might have some friendly advice about Corypheus, you and I did fight him afterall.”  
Hawke looked at her, “You already dropped half a mountain on the bastard, I’m sure anything I can tell you pales in comparison.”  
Mara shook her head, “I know almost nothing about him. Or how to beat him.”  
Hawke leaned out over the courtyard. Mara joined him. Skyhold’s courtyard hadfilled in the last few weeks since their arrival. More people were arriving each day. It had become a sort of pilgrimage. The army had seen a swell in numbers and her eyes immediately found Cullen, leading the new recruits through their training exercises. She tried not to stare.  
“You’ve already sealed the breach, that’s damned impressive. I could barely get my friends to stop fighting. Still, if you think I can help,” he continued.  
Mara broke her eyes away from watching Cullen, “You fought him?”  
Hawke nodded, “Fought and killed. The Grey Wardens were holding him, and he somehow used his connection to the Darkspawn to influence them. If it’s true the Wardens have disappeared, it’s possible they could have fallen under his control again.”  
Mara’s eyes roamed back over the courtyard, “So he’s got the Red Templars, the Venatori and possibly the Grey Warden’s on his side. Lovely.”  
“I didn’t come here just to give you bad news. I’ve got a friend in the Wardens. He was investigating something unrelated for me. His name is Stroud, the last time we spoke he was worried about corruption in the Warden’s ranks. Since then, nothing.”  
“Corypheus would definitely count as corruption,” Mara looked back at Varric.  
“I’d say,” Varric agreed.  
Hawke nodded, “My contact told me he’d be hiding in an old smuggler’s cave in Crestwood. Hopefully when we find him, he will know more.”  
“It’s worth investigating, right?” Varric asked.  
Mara looked at both of them, “Indeed.”  
“Corypheus is my responsibility, I thought I’d killed him before. This time, I’ll make sure of it.”  
“I’ll take all the help I can get,” Mara said. She meant it. If Hawke had killed Corypheus once, they could do it again. Hopefully this time it would stick.  
Hawke leaned back out over the rampart, “This reminds me of the view I had in Kirkwall. I loved it at first, but I slowly began to hate it because it reminded me of all the people who were relying on me.”  
Mara looked around. Varric had left them alone on the battlements, “I feel like I have an entire world relying on me. I’m not sure I feel up to the task.” It was an uncertainty she hadn’t admitted to anyone. Not even Varric or Dorian. Hawke was more or less a stranger, but he’d sided with the mages much like she had. She felt a certain safety in his presence.  
“Varric has said good things about you. I was a little surprised actually, Varric isn’t one for religion in general, but he speaks highly of the Inquisition. I think his exact phrase was ‘has a good shot at fixing Blondie’s mess.’”  
Mara laughed at his spot on impression of the dwarf. Hawke chuckled, but quickly became serious once more, “Remember this: just because you’re a hero, doesn’t mean you get a happy ending.”  
Mara sighed, eyes finding Cullen once again in the courtyard, “I know.” She’d read Varric’s book, she knew that Hawke had seen his fair share of unhappiness. If anyone in all of Thedas understood the weight on Mara’s shoulders, it was Hawke.  
Mara looked back at him. There was a concerned look in his eyes and she couldn’t quite place why it was there.  
“I’d be careful with that if I were you,” Hawke cocked his head to the courtyard knowingly. Had she been that obvious? Or had Varric told him? She was almost positive Varric had noticed her interest in the commander. He at least had been wise enough not to say anything about it.  
Mara resisted the urge to grit her teeth, “What?”  
Hawke frowned, “I knew him back in Kirkwall. Not well, but enough to know that he didn’t do a lot to stop Meredith. Not at least until the end. His feelings about mages were far from generous. He told me once that mages could not be treated like people. Watch yourself.” Hawke didn’t name names, but Mara knew exactly who he was speaking of.  
The look of concern did not leave his face. Of course he was concerned. It’d been his business to protect mages from Templars since the circles fell. Here she was, an apostate elven mage with little experience with Templars. Perhaps all he could see was her naiviety at falling for one. She could feel the tips of her ears warming even with the cool mountain breeze.  
Mara bit the inside of her cheek. A nervous habit she seemed to have developed over the last few months. She wasn’t sure what to say. Admitting she had feelings for Cullen was not an option. That would only make it real. If it was real she’d have to do something about it, at least this way she could go on ignoring it.  
So she simply nodded and said, “I appreciate your assistance, Hawke.” Then she took her leave.  
Stupid, she thought. How could she have forgotten he was a Templar? They had fallen into an easy friendship the last few months, and Mara felt perhaps there might be something else on his end as well. It lingered in gazes held too long and hung in the air with words left unsaid. Mara shook her head as if it would erase the memories, he may have left the Order, but that didn’t change what he was. Mara wasn’t sure it ever would.  
Did he really believe that mages weren’t people? That she wasn’t a person? Mara could believe it. The things he had said about the mages when she had chosen to ally with them over the Templars had cut her deeply. There had been yelling from both of them, and later apologies on both sides. And now she wondered if all she was to him was a mage that needed to be watched.  
Just another reason none of this could ever work, she thought.  
She should be more concerned with what he had told her about Corypheus, but she kept turning over in her mind Hawke’s parting words.  
So many depended on her. She could feel the weight of Thedas against her ribcage every time she breathed. Ever since she had raised that sword in the courtyard and become the Inquisitor, she had felt the change, like a too heavy blanket on top of her in the night. She fought every instinct that told her to run away from all of this, because there was a good chance she wouldn’t make it out alive. But she couldn’t do that. She had made her choice, and she would have to live with all of the consequences of that choice. Even if it meant her life wasn’t quite her own anymore.  
She ascended the stairs to the main hall and didn’t look back once to the training yard.


End file.
